Spirituality Corner

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Please Remember in Prayer

Those, living and deceased, who are listed in our Book of Prayers, found at the back of church.

Anyone can add names to this book each month.

Live the Liturgy

December 22nd, 2019 Fourth Sunday of Advent

Have you ever asked God for a sign? What were you hoping to see? Signs validate our experience and give us assurance and direction. We tend to equate God’s signs with miraculous or marvelous events. We even sometimes look for small gestures as signs that God is confirming a particular experience or choice we are making. Being overly preoccupied with receiving these kinds of signs from God can often signal a lack of faith. Is there anything that can convince us that God is real and with us on our journey? Yes. God’s sign has already been given: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel. Emmanuel, God with us, is God’s most perfect sign and the only one we need. Our incarnate God is all we need to set us straight and validate our experience. Only Jesus can direct us to the Father, to our self, one another, and our world. When our lives are conformed to His, nothing else is needed.

Scripture

Spend Some Time Reflecting on the Daily Readings

Readings for the Week of December 15th, 2019

Sunday:Is 7:10-14/ Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 [7c, 10b]/Rom 1:1-7/Mt 1:18-24
Monday:Mal 3:1-4, 23-24/Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14/Lk 1:57-66
Tuesday:Vigil: Is 62:1-5/Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29 [2a]/Acts 13:16-17, 22-25/Mt 1:1-25 or 1:18-25
Wednesday:Day: Is 52:7-10/Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6 [3c]/Heb 1:1-6/Jn 1:1-18 or Jn 1:1-5, 9-14
Thursday:Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/Ps 31:3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17 [6]/Mt 10:17-22
Friday:1 Jn 1:1-4/Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 [12]/Jn 20:1a, 2-8
Saturday:1 Jn 1:5—2:2/Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7b-8 [7]/Mt 2:13-18
Next Sunday:Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/ Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 [cf. 1]/Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17/Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

Sharing the Gospel

God brought Jesus into the world as a tiny baby. Jesus was God’s Son. He was so powerful that he could have gotten anything he wanted. But Jesus did not come to earth to be a rich, selfish ruler. He did not need a palace or fancy clothes. Jesus came to show you that God is with you all the time. He was born to be the king over your life. He gave up his own life to rescue you from your sins, so that you could be close to God forever

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to rescue me.

Mission for the Week
Tonight after dinner, ask your family to light some candles, turn off the lights, and sing some of your favorite Christmas songs about Jesus.

Questions of the Week

First Reading
The prophet Isaiah challenges king Ahaz to be bold in his prayer to God: “Ask for a sign … let it be as deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky!” How would you rate your own boldness of prayer to God?

Second Reading
In the opening words of his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul asserts that all believers (Jew and Gentile alike) are called to be holy. How do you think the season of Advent helps us develop holiness?

Gospel Reading
Matthew focuses on Joseph in recounting the birth of Jesus. (Luke, by comparison, focuses on Mary). How do you imagine Joseph processed over time this angelic revelation of Mary’s conception and Jesus’ birth?

God already has the solution.